Local celebrity Bruce McKenzie cut the ribbon at Crossmichael Gala on Saturday to mark its official return to the events calendar.
Organiser Jim McLelland and his committee worked tirelessly to prepare for the big day – and they were rewarded with perfect weather.
Highlight for the crowd of around 500 was Crossmichael’s traditional strongman competition which was won by John Pollock from Kilwinning.
The event, organised by Stewart Murray of Burns Gym in Dumfries, saw five athletes compete in the log run, farmers’ walk, log lift and vehicle pull.
Final event was the atlas stone, which involved lifting a 110kg rock from grass to shoulder, extending one hand, then dropping the stone to earth.
Pollock took the honours – managing an incredible 10 lifts in 75 seconds.
Mr McLelland said: “It could not have gone better. Luckily God was smiling on us with all the sunshine.
“And the strongman competition was great – the last one was held in 2002, 17 years ago.
“It was absolutely fantastic – everything ran like clockwork.”
Other attractions on the day included three storytellers from the CatStrand entertaining the children with weird and wonderful tales and a 100-foot bouncy obstacle course.
But the question remains – will there be a gala next year?
